[4] Penny earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Radio and Television) from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in 1979.

[7] At the start of her broadcasting career, Penny took postings at locations far from friends and family, and to help deal with feelings of loneliness and isolation, she increasingly turned to alcohol.

[7] Shortly afterwards, she met her future husband, Michael Whitehead, head of hematology at Montreal Children's Hospital,[11] on a blind date.

[2] In 2013, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to Canadian culture as an author shining a spotlight on the Eastern Townships of Quebec".

[15] For several years, Penny resisted selling the TV or movie rights to her books, afraid of losing creative control of her characters.

[16] However, when approached by PDM Entertainment and Attraction Images and offered a position as executive producer during film production, she changed her mind and agreed to sell them the rights to her first two novels.